{"id":73729,"date":"2025-12-06T20:07:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T20:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/73729\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T20:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T20:07:07","slug":"orlando-magic-head-to-new-york-after-ugly-win-vs-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/73729\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic head to New York after ‘ugly’ win vs. Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Magic<\/a> were limited to just 19 points in the fourth quarter of Friday\u2019s game against the Heat<\/a> when Orlando<\/a> turned the ball over 10 times throughout the night and let Miami shoot 50% from the floor.<\/p>\n

Jamahl Mosley<\/a>\u2018s squad was outrebounded (44-42), outscored in the paint (52-48) and missed six free throws inside Kia Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And yet Orlando finished on top, 106-105, against its in-state rival on a night that saw the return of Paolo Banchero<\/a> after the All-Star forward missed the previous 10 games with a left groin strain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pretty ugly game for the most part but just being able to find a way to win against a good team, we\u2019re going to see them again Tuesday so we\u2019re going to have to make the adjustments, see what we could have done better and come out and try to get another one against them,\u201d Banchero said in the locker room after the 1-point victory.<\/p>\n

The Magic star was restricted to just 20 minutes in his first game back as he finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in limited action.<\/p>\n

Although he shot 3 for 8 from the floor, including a 3-pointer, Banchero was just happy to be back out on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a couple of games,\u201d he said about his quality of play. \u201cMy first two shots went in, so that was a good feeling. My shot feels decent. I think it\u2019s going to take a few games but I was just excited to be out there with the guys and get a win.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Banchero back, fellow forward Franz Wagner (32 points) posted 30-plus points for the second time this season while guard Jalen Suggs hit a trio of triples to notch 15 of his 22 points in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Wagner\u2019s 538 total points scored this season ranked 15th among all players league-wide entering Saturday\u2019s slate of games, according to NBA.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHim just being fearless no matter what part of the game it was,\u201d Banchero said about Wagner\u2019s performance against Miami. \u201cHim just attacking, taking shots, we need him to take, whether it\u2019s a 3 or a layup, we need him to take shots.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need him to be aggressive at all times and [Friday] was one of those nights where he just kept going, kept putting pressure on the defense, and kept them on their heels the whole game,\u201d Banchero added.<\/p>\n

\"Orlando<\/p>\n

AP Photo\/John Raoux<\/p>\n

Magic forward Franz Wagner, right, dunks over Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) during the second half of Friday’s game at Kia Center. (AP Photo\/John Raoux)<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s win was Orlando\u2019s fourth straight game decided by 5 points or less. The Magic improved to 7-5 in clutch games, which are contests where the score is within 5 points during the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.<\/p>\n

While those types of games can be high-pressure situations that require precise execution down the stretch, Mosley sees it as a positive for his group in the long run.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great,\u201d the Magic coach said. \u201cIt gives these guys, and us as coaches, an opportunity to keep learning in close games. It\u2019d be nice to win every game by 20 [points] but the reality is in this league, you have great teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd those teams play you tight, they understand the adjustments they need to make, but our ability to find a way in these close games is going to be important as the season goes on,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Before the Magic (14-9) host the Heat (14-9) again on Tuesday with a trip of Las Vegas on the line in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, Orlando heads to New York (15-7) for a Sunday matchup that features a noon start.<\/p>\n

In the NHL, the New York Rangers host the Vegas Golden Knights later Sunday evening at Madison Square Garden. Thus the need for an earlier tip-off time between the Magic and Knicks, the latter of whom sat second in the East entering Saturday.<\/p>\n

But when Orlando hosts Miami again next week, it knows how to win close against the Southeast Division foe that\u2019ll it face five times in the regular season this year, a first since 1993-94.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe important part is that basketball is a game of runs,\u201d Suggs said. \u201cWe know at some point, especially when you\u2019re at home, you kind of have that added juice to go on a run, and we knew that we\u2019d have a chance to go on one and hold the lead.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It was] a real group effort; everybody was ready to go \u2026 now we just adjust to see if we can get them again Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Knicks<\/p>\n

When:\u00a0Noon, Sunday, Madison Square Garden<\/p>\n

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida\/CW18<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Magic were limited to just 19 points in the fourth quarter of Friday\u2019s game against the Heat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,110],"class_list":["post-73729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}